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Poll: Have people really changed throughout history?

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Have people really changed?

After listening closely to history lessons, I've noticed something very interesting: While the times have changed, the people haven't. We've always had philosophers who will point problems out, even propose solutions, but not take action; individuals have always inspired to take over; people who will hold to what they originally thought and defend said idea relentlessly regardless of its flaws; and the poor. The industrial revolution gave way to the middle class, who fall somewhere between the first and third categories that I mentioned; and to big business, who will let you starve to death before giving you one cent you have not worked to the bone for; this falls in place of the second, if not something all on it's own.

My question is, what's new that has sprung up, sure our technology, lifestyles, etc. has changed drastically, but have the people? Sure, we see more liberals and liberal ideas, but these have been around for a while, just now we are letting up on their suppression.

Personally, I look around me and see that people behave just the same as the commoners described in my history class.

Re: Have people really changed?

I'm in absolute agreement with you. People have not changed, only the circumstance we live in has.

We have more power but we are not more powerful if you catch my distinction. Take a man and remove him from all that we have built, and he is no more than the guys who painted on the cave walls 50K years ago.

When it comes to motivations, emotions, and ability to think, we are the same as our ancestors so far as I can tell.

Re: Have people really changed?

I think people are the same as we have been throughout history. I feel like the main difference from us today and the people of yesterday (meaning a hundred years back and more) is the slow recognition of human rights. Technology and communication has made us as a globe more conscientious as a people, and we hold each other more accountable to human rights. Granted, obviously there is much of the world where there are still horrible living conditions and dictatorships. I think the great achievement of globalization is the improvement of human rights slowly over time.

Re: Have people really changed?

Structurally, including the structure of the brain, no, they haven't. 3500-5000 years is a blink of the eye in terms of evolution.

Our ideas are constantly evolving and are evolving at a much faster rate than our bodies are. Two things boosted this rapid evolution in ideas. First, the invention of the the printing press, which allowed ideas to be spread more widely and more accurately. And second, the intellectual revolution which began roughly 4 - 4 1/2 centuries ago with Bacon, Descartes, Galileo, and the rest of those guys. Shortly after that our technology began to advance exponentially and is still doing so today.

Slightly off-topic but still interesting to note is the huge disconnect between our brain's physical evolution and the evolution of our technology. We still have much of the same emotional makeup that our cavemen ancestors had. We're still petty and jealous, still fly into rages and sometimes into murderous rages. The problem with this is that we no longer settle our disputes with spears, knives, clubs, bows and arrows, etc. Now we can use chemical and biological weapons, nuclear bombs and other WMD.

How quickly our emotional makeup evolves could be the key to the survival of our species. We have the means today to push this emotional evolution along genetically but whether we have the wisdom to do it correctly and have the will to do it at all remains to be seen. FWIW, I am very skeptical about our chances of having either one of those.

Re: Have people really changed?

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind." 1 Corn 10:13

Our temptations have not changed, and because we still are driven by the same flesh we repeat history.

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. " Ecc 1:9

" Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. " James 4:1

Our wars are over the same old things, our vices are the same old things, our history is a long line of T.V. re-run's with different names attached to old roles.

Re: Have people really changed?

Originally Posted by Sigfried

I'm in absolute agreement with you. People have not changed, only the circumstance we live in has.

We have more power but we are not more powerful if you catch my distinction. Take a man and remove him from all that we have built, and he is no more than the guys who painted on the cave walls 50K years ago.

When it comes to motivations, emotions, and ability to think, we are the same as our ancestors so far as I can tell.

Re: Have people really changed?

Is it change when the human norm in the ancient world, sanctioned by the leadership of a tribe, supported raping and sacrificing their children to some god, versus 2000 years later where most people have changed their thinking and find that raping and sacrificing their children to some god is repulsive?

Is it human change when reasoning minds accepted to have a slave society and beat and kill their salves as mere property, versus the change in thinking today in a civilized world (human thinking) that won't accept a slave society?

Are not laws a direct reflection of the human change in our thinking process? When our thinking process changes, does this not usually (not, always, but often) eventually change a person? When and if enough people change their thinking process, does this not usually begin to change a community, a society, a country, a civilization?

Before the American Civil War, slavery was the acceptable norm by the majority of people and in America. After the Civil War, human thinking changed and this was reflected in a constitutional amendment. Many people, especially in the south, were still very racially motivated and hated the black man regardless of the 13th amendment. But human views, human thinking eventually changed slowly. Man changed his thinking about the black man.

Now, I can bring up the human change in thinking between BC versus AD but we can keep religion out of it.

Re: Have people really changed?

Originally Posted by ZealousDemon

So individuals haven't changed, but societies have?

Good question. I think the needs of societies have not changed so much, their purpose you might say. But the scope and power of them really is so vastly different that I'd have to say it qualifies as different in kind. I'm not certain though... have to think on it.

Re: Have people really changed?

Have our primary motivations as people changed? No, and it's doubtful that they ever will. Humans will always seek sex, security, and social validation.

The frame (society) may change, but the latitude with which people operate within that frame will pretty much always be the same. Race is a good example of this. In today's society, general acceptance and tolerance is the norm. Most people simply conform to society's standard without giving a great deal of critical thought to the issue one way or the other, and there are of course extremists for both greater race equality and those in favor of bigotry. I think it's more the progressive nature of society that forces people's perspective to change, than it is an actual change of the way individuals think.

"I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President."
Dubya

Re: Have people really changed?

Nothing has changed accept our technology and advancements, but as far as day to day interaction and behavior goes, we might as well still be nomadic hunters and gatherers. Until people stop waging wars over different belief systems nothing will change. If we cant accept that not everybody thinks the same we can not and will not move forward. As a side note as long as one feels entitled to more wealth or resources than another human being again nothing will change. Without equality and cooperation we will not evolve past the point of psychotic primates.

Re: Have people really changed?

WWW. has made people more accountable for their actions and will hopefully break the Despots rule over countries like North Korea , and dare I say it China. I expect self Interest to continue to run roughshed over morality though. We cant change what we are. Hopefully global communication/Internet can reign in our natural proclivity to find new ways to slaughter eachother.

Re: Have people really changed?

Yes certainly the people have changed throughout the history.... A Lot of Changes Are there to see... Our way of living, talking, Walking even sleeping is changed.... this is all becoz people nature have been changed, No matter what thing has changed this, but certainly there is a change........

Re: Have people really changed?

Humans in its natural form has not changed (which has been established above) we are still as primitive in our form we always have been. What I fail to see in this debate is the advancement of institutions in society and how they have influenced people and even changed humans. Namely, educational institutions. From a sociological perspective, the immense achievement of capitalism which has created a (semi-) global network is able to supply people for its basic needs, so in a way we are not depedent on our main primitive need anymore. The population has grown and density has increased. This has resulted in, humans have a different thinking pattern in their "our" daily lives. So has people really changed? Yes - the goals we set ourselves have changed, and so we have to adjust, adapt and confrom to a new living pattern.